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JAY-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z (stylized as JAY-Z), is an American rapper, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur, and record executive. Considered among the best rappers of all time, he is regarded as one of the world's most significant cultural icons and has been a global figure in popular culture for over two decades. Early life Carter was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City and was raised in Marcy Houses, a housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood. After their father, Adnis Reeves, abandoned the family, Shawn and his three siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter. Reeves would later meet and reconcile with Jay-Z before dying in 2003. Jay-Z claims in his lyrics that in 1982 at age 12, he shot his older brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. Along with future rapper AZ, Carter attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn until it was closed down. He then attended the nearby George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School with future rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, followed by a stint at Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, though he did not graduate. According to his interviews and lyrics, during this period he sold crack cocaine and was shot at three times. According to his mother, Carter used to wake up his siblings at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table. She bought him a boom box for his birthday, sparking his interest in music. He began freestyling and writing lyrics. Known as "Jazzy" around the neighbourhood, Carter later adopted the showbiz/stage name "Jay-Z" in homage to his mentor Jaz-O. Jay-Z can be briefly heard on several of Jaz-O's early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including "The Originators" and "Hawaiian Sophie." Jay-Z became embroiled in several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 1990s. He first became known to a wide audience on the posse cut "Show and Prove" on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddy's Home. Jay-Z has been referred to as Big Daddy Kane's hype man during this period, although Kane explains that he didn't fill the traditional hype man role, and was instead basically making cameo appearances on stage. "When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay-Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage." The young Jay-Z appeared on a popular song by Big L, "Da Graveyard", and on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build", which also featured early appearances by DMX and Ja Rule in 1995. His first official rap single was called "In My Lifetime", for which he released a music video in 1995. An unreleased music video was also produced for the B-side "I Can't Get with That." Why He and His Songs Rock #His songs deal with heavy, subject matter, such as gangs. #He collaborated with big name artists, such as Eminem, Biggie Smalls and Beyoncé. #His albums have great production. #His song "Takeover” is an example of how a diss track is made well. #He is a billionaire rapper. #He has classic albums such as Reasonable Doubt ''and ''The Black Album. #He is great lyricist. #His duo with Kanye West, The Throne, is pretty good. #He is a huge inspiration to a lot of rappers and he is considered one of the best rappers ever. #His output in the past few years is still solid, such as his album ''4:44''. #He does pretty well on features. His Bad Qualities # He complained that white men are so privileged in the United States while being with David Letterman. # He was convicted for assault and received a three-year probation sentence after stabbing a record executive in the stomach despite having witnesses and videotapes proving otherwise. # He had an affair while he was married to Beyoncé. Thankfully, they patched up. Discography Solo albums: * Reasonable Doubt (1996) * In My Lifetime, Vol.1 (1997) * Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998) * Vol.3... Life and Times of S. Carter (1999) * The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000) * The Blueprint (2001) * The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002) * The Black Album (2003) * Kingdom Come (2006) * American Gangster (2007) * The Blueprint 3 (2009) * Magna Carta... Holy Grail (2013) * 4:44 (2017) Collaborative albums: * The Best of Both Worlds (with R. Kelly) (2002) * Unfinished Business (with R. Kelly) (2004) * Collision Course (EP, with Linkin Park) (2004) * Watch The Throne (with Kanye West) (2011) * Everything Is Love (with Beyoncé as The Carters) (2018) Category:Rappers Category:Hip hop Category:2000s Category:1990s Category:2010s Category:Artists Category:Roc Nation artists Category:1960s Category:1980s Category:Old school rap Category:Artists Lacking Sense Category:1969 births Category:1970s Category:2020s